The Debt Counsellors Association of South Africa (DCASA) met with iMas to discuss some of the issues and look for solutions that will work for everyone.
The meeting was a great success and highlights the value of Debt Counsellor associations and their role in the industry. It also shows that it is good for credit providers to get feedback from the industry so they can constantly look for areas to improve.
iMas shared that they are changing systems and know it has resulted in some delays. They care confident the system upgrade will ultimately result in reduced turnaround times.
In regard to salary deductions they said it is vital for them to receive a 17.2 and proposal (that they like) before cancellations occur. Salary deductions are loaded in the first week of each month. Please keep this in mind as it can result in a months delay in a cancellation being effected. Refunds back to the PDA are possible (as long as they happy with proposal). They do not have a standardized cancellation form as yet. There will be some further discussion on this point.
If there is going to be a disruption to the repayment plan (and a 17.3 is sent) they would like a catch up plan with dates and amounts included so they can make a call. There will be further discussions about this based on them possibly using the NCR task team guidelines instead.
iMas feel within their rights to counter DCRS proposals if they don’t like the budget figures they have or are shown. While this is the responsibility of the Debt Counsellor and DCRS works on percentages they feel that they should counter in cases where the budget is not showing adjustments they agree with.
They also mentioned that they will, basically, always counter if the consumer got credit from them in the last 6 months.Â
‘they will,… always counter if the consumer got credit from them in the last 6 months’
Debt Counsellors should keep this in mind and, of course, review such recently granted credit for possible reckless lending (if asked to by the consumer).
